Pertinax

A straight answer? My personal opinion-this is the text of a funeral panygeric , its purpose to show Agricola as the paradigm of Roman excellence . It is suggested that the choice of Boudicca as the "hyped" leader of the Britons (no such people with a defined national consciouseness till Rome had made Brittania a province) was a deliberate ploy to show the "feminine" emotional ,unfocussed , and therefore Un Romanness of the Britons (or those tribes engaged) . Feminine I use here in the "archaic" Roman sense -plenty said on the forum about this concept previously. So my answer is -this might be construed as a propoganda pamphlet which tells you nothing about either side at all except they were in conflict.The Brythonic tribes would folow a Female of high status as would many Celtiberian "tribes" but until the Claudian invasion such units might last only the life of the "monarch " in question and then re-group in some other fleeting form. Possible reality: bad/corrupt government of a client tribe by cynical provincial Governor.Dont forget the Icenii were clients and the real outrage was being de-militarised along with their much loathed Brythonic enemies .I have to point out that the British tribes hated each other more than Rome and defined themselves in terms of Roman abstract concepts , they also craved Roman consumer goods even if espousing opposition to Rome.Only such remote and non-material tribes as the Ordovices were outside this consumer circle. I suggest the most difficult thing to consider is the lack of any idea of British nationhood- religious solidarity of a Druidic nature would be a greater influence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIAJTFpdaW4&search=hbo%20rome just in case you havent found this...

drink plenty of Sarsaparilla! keep that blood clean.

Troops from Lancashire (UK) stationed in Norway during the Second WW found that they could make themselves understood when speaking Lancashire dialect-and vice versa-they could tune into a lot of ,apparent, donated words.

Now, here AD has given us another very interesting medicine/food overlap. GO was on the nail with the Artichoke (and the Cynar name is an abbreviation of its latin designation Cyanara cardunculus-globe type). Gum Mastica /mastik is a powerful vermifuge indeed its particularly useful for expelling obstinate pyloric bacteria.Although its flavouring is the key to this product I do seem to remember a couple of nasty little ancient wars being fought over its production area. Aniseed grows very freely in European hedgerows so its certainly been available-perhaps someone looking for Hemlock picked a delicious non-fatal substitute instead. edit: mastik toothpaste is a good idea-because when using a medicinal strength application one is required to take it last thing at night to have maximun impact on liver processing in the absence of food.

I was of course using the pre-Johnsonian spelling and drinking red wine.

The later structures all tended to hug the exterior walls if im not mistaken?

The possible function is as as a secure transit camp for a large body of soldiery-this is a logical idea is it not? What else could be accomodated in a defensible perimeter without leaving built evidence? Granaries have a definite physical signature and are inescapable in our damp climate, horses need much more room if grazing for any reasonable length of time (though they could be fed for a while in an enclosed camp).The other function could be in relation to a civilian Vicus-ie: sheltering a population of threatened persons, but this only arises if the fort has a substantial adjacent civilian settlement.So, I vote for walled transit camp.

Regrettably Hadrian's Wall is one of the low res areas. edit: NN tells me the Eastern Wall extremity is good resolution ,and rightly so, ive just been viewing Arbeia and that looks good.

cackles maddly :pimp: and kicks hideous sidekick into dungheap Doubtless you will return Sir ,armed with that pantechnicon of the Mother Tounge , Dr Johnson's Dictionary-I trust you will suffer no cymbocephalic tergiservation.I trust you will return gruntled and without mental incalescence. also I have found my slang thesaurus which allows me to translate from English to the Colonial Usage

69 AD made everyone take their "eyes off the ball" , Vespasian was in an excellent position to finish the work off having already pacified the roughnecks of the SW in the toughest of the Claudian battlegroup actions . I tentatively suggest that the new Emperors' local knowledge and a desire to legitimise the Flavian regime by a resoundingly agressive military action ,made Venuntius' revolt exactly the the right enemy action to satisfy his (Vespasians)requirements. I know that ,time and again, we see an Emperor awarded a victory achieved by other mens good soldiery and generalship but I am nowinclined to think this was one job that went all the way to the Chiefs desk.It is said that it was most specifically II Adiutrix who were involved in raiding and support because of their loyalty-pia fidelis.So I think your comment on loyalty is most valid-II Adiutrix was in the mix to stiffen resolve in the province as a whole.

my that is a useful item, im just looking at the Villa Jovis on Capri after checking the harbour at Naples.

A marmoset? Iupiter forEfend! Only a midget murine mammal to graze on your hair. Fie! must I then fumigate my follicular growths with fumitory herb therewith to frighten off the mammalian marauder? Surely my mollions will be roughly aggled!

Ive submitted my review of "Roman Britain and the Roman Navy" to Viggen, I think this particular work has some very relevant references to the various Caledonian campaigns: as regards logistics, tactics and tribal activities . Its quite a specilaised work but I urge members to take a look as it gives a better context to the pattern of Roman tactical and strategic movement and construction. http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0...2620765-5794332

Heaven Forfend! as long as you do not sequester a marmoset in my morion.

You are most welcome and dont worry about your English!

That is quite sensible-artichoke combined with olive oil and lemon juice will ,firstly ,produce a great deal of bile (probably half as much again as normal from the bile ducts), and would also tend to dissolve any impacted chloresterol obstructing the bile ducts in the liver and gall bladder.If you had bad acidosis it would be a good thing to use.

I would say Nam Plah the thai fish sauce is very good, we use it instead of salt in stews and casseroles. Andrew Dalby would be able to answer as a "purist" for approximating Roman authenticity, but as you know there are quite a few possible recipe variants. If I recall an earlier exchange on a similar topic I suggested that the top quality original was made from fermented tuna guts and residual flesh( particularly the head and gills) from that same cleaned fish.Pantagathus will have something to say for sure! Here are some references in my old "Moray Eel" thread. http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?showto...03&hl=moray+eel